Red Horizon
by Platinum Seagull
Summary: Thirty years after the death of Uzamaki Naruto, life in the ninja villages has changed. War is plaguing the land, and an unknown and unprepared group of genins has been chosen to lead their side to victory. The only question is, are they ready?
1. Prologue

His hand passed over the table, sweeping up a deck of cards as it went. The land is on the brink of war. Ever since the death of the sixth Hokage-Uzamaki Naruto, the land of the ninja has become divided through betrayal, strife, and deception. 

He flipped the cards into his hand, then expertly shuffled them with mind bending speed.Thirty years have passed since the Hokages death, his pupil, Kondaime, taking over in his stead. Relationships between the Sand and Cloud villages had been strained long during the sixth Hokage's rule, and whose uneasy truces slowly began to slip into the shadows in the later years. However, the leaders of the Grass and Mist were murdrered- work thought to be that of the Snow and Cloud villages.Later the entire Sand Village was mysteriously destroyed. Thought to be the work of the Village Hidden the Clouds- the Grass, Mist, and Rock villages formed a coalition against the Cloud and Snow villages. Thought to being accused unjustly, the Cloud and Snow villages responded by forming a similar pact, along with their allies: Rain and Ice. This group of four called themselves the Heaven Nations.

Laying the cards on the table once again he positioned them perfectly in the center of the table. Not wanting to become outnumbered, Grass, Mist, and Rock, all relatively small, convinced the Mist and Sound villages to join their alliance. This group of five became known as the Earth Nations.

He took a deep breath, his chest filling up to the rim with poisioned air.Outside these two sects lie the Village Hidden in the Leaves- or, more widely known as Konoha. The Kondaime preserved Naruto's wish of peace and refused to join either side. Also, the secretive Sun and Moon villages lie outside both sides knowledge. They exist in harmoy, created by the Sixth Hokage and the legendary Sasuke Uchiha.

He released his mighty breath, sending three cards flying into the air, swooping around the room, and landing in front of him. For many years, tensions between the two nations grew. So much in fact, that one could not even stand outside a village from an opposite nation without, at least, getting horrible looks. Stepping a toe inside however, could result in more than just some wounded feelings.

With shaking, veiny hands, he flipped the cards over, gazing intently on the pictures they depicted. War is coming, and everyone but the oblivious children of Konoha know it. It is here where our story begins. Outside a rather familiar village, inside a rather familiar academy, a group of students wait anxiously for their test results.

Among them is Z Kabyichii, self proclaimed slacker and all around loser, Dan Hyuuga, a mysterious, yet suave character on a quest, and finally, in a lone corner of the room, is the littlelest child in the academy- a girl called Kieto. Even to him, their fates are unknown, but their cards reveal that their parts in this story will be ones of significance. Much significance.

He sighed, and folded the cards back into their pile. The stench in the air was horrible. He had to be going now. Things needed to be done.

The Beginning is near! A new Horizon is Dawning! Around the Corner, a new chapter in the Lives of the Ninja Begins! What's Next?


	2. Chapter 1: New beginnings

She was alone. She was always alone. Her hands gripped the coarse, worn threads of the swing as she watched the kids enter the acedemy. No one noticed her. No one ever did. Her hair fell in front of her face, and she didn't bother to move it. Her eyes were fixed on all the genin that talked, joked, argued, and reassured each other nervously as they entered the building. She had read up on each of them. She whispered their names as they opened the door. "Kaki Subiki...age twelve...female" she mumbled as a girl with bright blond hair pushed another kid out of the way to enter. "Sogome...age thirteen...female" Another girl, a little taller with short blue hair covering her eyes and taped bound arms entered after Kaki. Another boy with a bowl hair cut and a strange orange outfit followed her."Niko Lee...age twelve...male"Following him, hands in his pockets was another boy, eyes downcast. There was strange gap between him and the other ninja. It was as if they were afraid to touch him. "Dan Hyuuga...age twelve...male"  
She looked to the sky. Who would it be? There were so many potential candidates. There were so many choices. 

"Hey, Shudup you two losers!" an obnoxious sounding voice came from in front of her. She didn't even have to look down. She knew it well. "Z" Makomichi. The biggest, laziest slacker in the whole academy. She was suprised he even got this far. His test scores were abismal. Two, thin, synchronized laughs followed. Deishi Ono and Gaishi Ono. Twins,and from what she could tell, inseperable. They were always together, every time she saw them. It was strange.

She leaned back in the swing and let her legs dangle in the air. It was probably going to be someone strong. Konaige had promised her a strong group. Strong was good. But who would it be? There were so many choices. So Many!

She looked down again, trying to identify the last of the potential genins. Suddenly, she found herself looking dead into the eyes of another student. One she had never seen before. He wore thick eyeglasses, and had his hair combed back with a perfect wavy part down the middle. He wore suspenders, and had his socks rolled over his pants. Weird. But he was looking straight at her. What did he see? To most people, she was just another ordinary little kid. There were other kids here. Why was he only looking at her? She lowered her gaze for a moment, then raised it inconspicuosly. When she looked back up, he was gone. Weird. She dismissed it from her mind. It was time to dream some more.

The Academy classroom was packed when she arrived. Chuunin and academy official Kiniga Sensai had been observing the advancing genins progress through the school very closely up till now, but even after all the research and studies, she was still surpirsed at the number of young shinobi hopefuls staring at her with bright eyed faces when she walked in. She smiled and flipped her brown hair from the front of her eyes. "Hello again everyone, are you ready to meet your new teams?"

"Haha! You bet Kiniga sensei!" a boy with a bowl cut and an orange jumpsuit shouted as he stood up with his fist in the air. Several snickers filled the room, but the boy didn't bother sitting down. Kiniga smiled.

"You can sit down now Lee" she said grinning.

"Yes Ma'am!" he shouted. He saluted once, then plopped into his seat looking straight ahead.

"A freak. Don't you believe brother?" came an icy cackle from beside her. "Indeed brother. I do believe. A freak" Kiniga sighed. The twins. Those two were bound to be trouble.

"Now, if everyone can quiet down please, I need your immediate attention!" said Kiniga. It wasn't really necessary, but it was mandatory. She walked to the front of the room, a clip board in her hand. "You all know why you are here, I don't feel like I need to explain it. After all your hard work in the academy, you've earned the right to become genin" At this, a loud cheer errupted from the class, especially from the mouth of the one called Z.

"Kiniga, you're the greatest, but enough with the mushy stuff! Give us the teams already I'm ready to kick some butt!" he yelled over the top of several of his clasmates.

"Sit down idiot" came the collected voice of Dan Hyuuga. As soon as he spoke, everyone got quiet. Instantly.

Kiniga raised her eyebrows. She had seen Dan's affect on the other ninja to some extent, but he had never completely shushed a whole classroom before. Even the usually, "loud and proud" Z took his seat. Something strange was going on... but no time for that now.

"Alright everyone, I won't waste any more time! As you all know, you have all been promoted to genin, and therefore it is time for you to become part of a three man team to continue your training. Becoming part of this team is not something that is finite, you're relationships with your team members and your squad leader will ultimately affect if a mission is a success or a failure. Sometimes, your bond can even be the difference between life and death. You all need to to take this very seriously. Do I make myself clear...Z?"

Z twiddled his thumbs absentmindedly. "Yes ma'am..."

"Good. Now that that's out of the way...Let's begin naming the teams!" Kiniga said loudly as she raised her clipboard to eye level. "Team One!...Niko Lee!"

The orange clad Niko jumped on top of the desk! "Group One! One meaning the best!" he shouted.

"...Nadari Takamino!" Kiniga continued. A long, drawn out sigh came from the back of the room. Lee did a complete three sixty twist to see where the noise had emanated from. Sitting in the far corner of the room, black hair hanging over her eyes, clothed in shredded black clothes, and sporting a dark purple eyeliner, sat the gloomy Nadari Takamino. "And...Ugi Matsobi!" Kiniga said with finality.

Everyone scratched their heads. Ugi? They had never heard of that guy before. A hand suddenly raised into the air, and a short, nerdy looking, glasses sporting kid stood up, both hands drooping past his suspenders. "That would be me" he said boredly. Some giggles passed through the group, but Kiniga quickly shushed them.

"Next Team Two! Beginning with...Raido!"

"Ungh?" came the groan from a dirty, smelly looking kid with frizzy black hair. He reeked badly, as if he hadn't taken a bath in months. A sharp laugh came from the back of the room. Kaki Subiki and Doshiga Kunegi huddled together between the desks.

"Ya see that Doshiga, THAT's our enemy. That boy. Well, not just him. All boys like him. He's the prime example of what we're fighting against."

"We're fighting?" came a timid reply.

"Well...metaphorically. But just look at him! He smells bad, has bad manners, has no respect... He shouldn't even be a ninja!" Kaki laughed.

"Isn't that going a bit too far Kaki?..."

"What? Are you saying you WANT to be on a team with that...that...boy?"

"Well, no...I just..."

"Second...Doshiga Kunegi!" came Kuniga's voice from the front of the room. Doshiga paled as Kaki slapped her on the back.

"I feel for you sister, but it seems like irony finally got the better of you! Just imagine it! You're going to be on a team with a dirty...smelly boy! I bet you would KILL to be in my shoes right now!"

"And Lastly...Kaki Subiki!"

Z turned around and stared as a sudden, endless streaming of curses errupted from the back of the room. "I wonder what those wimps are yelling about?"

"Team Five!...Sogome Dicharo, and Deishi Ono and Gaishi Ono!"

Simultaneously cackles spurted from the twins as they slapped hands. "Wait...you mean I have BOTH of them?" screamed an enraged Sogome from the front.

"Moving on!..."

Z laid his head on his desk. It seemed like he would never get called. At the same time, he wasn't sure if he really wanted to. I mean, some teams were okay, but other weren't. He would hate to be in that Raido kid's shoes. Kaki would probably kill him within the first couple hours. He propped his feet up on the desk and placed his hands behind his head. Maybe an attitude adjustment was in order. He had always been lazy at the academy when it came to schoolwork, but he always trained rigourously whenver he could. However, he could see that by the way thing's were looking now, the stronger, higher ranked students were the only ones that were left. How did that happen! He had scored in the lowest half of the class...there was no way he should still be hre. He should have gone with the weaker groups...But now that he thought about it, Nkiko wasn't really that bright, and neither was Raido. And they both had smart ninjas on their teams...it could only be for one reason...To make the smart kids look better! Z cried into his hands. He was doomed.

"Group 9!...Z Makomichi!" came Kiniga sensai's voice. Z suddenly perked up, his ears twitching intently. "...Dan Hyuuga!"

Suddenly, Z's face drooped. Crap. He risked a look in Dan's direction. He was met with an sinister stare. Crap. Crap. crap. Not good. Not good!

"..and finally, Kieto!"

Z risked a peak above his desk; maybe that last person could offer him some protection against Dan. But seriously, why couldn't the guy get over it! What's past was past...right? Z stopped thinking about his predicament with Dan for a moment to notice that "Kieto" had not acknowledged herself yet. "Hey! Kieto! Whoever you are! You're on my team!" Z hollered. He caught a look devilish look from Dan, and quickly added, "Our Team...I mean"

No one responded. "You won't find her in the building Z, she wasn't even part of the academy" said Kiniga sensai walking over to a window.

"Well, where is she then?" Dan's steely voice once again reduced everyone to silence as it echoed around the room.

Kiniga flicked open a hatch on the inside of the window, then popped it open. "See for yourself" she said as Dan and Z questioningly got up from their seats and made their way over to the open window. Kiniga pointed, and the two genin followed her finger to a tree, then a swing, then a girl on a swing. She had long brown, hair that hung over face, and wasn't bothering to move it. Z squinted. "That little girl, is Kieto?"

Kay stood before the Seventh Hokage of the Village Hidden in Leaves with his arms crossed. "Are you sure this is a good idea sir?"

"No"

"Then why are we...?"

The Hokage held up a finger, interupting him. "Please Kay, you know my feelings on this matter. Kudon was very close to me, and I need someone with talent to continue where he left off. You are one of the most intelligent, powerful shinobi's I have. If you cannot do this job...I do not not know who will"

Kay inhaled deeply, then looked at the ceiling. "Sometimes I really don't understand you..."

The Hokage let out a booming laugh. "Very good, very good. You'll need to hurry Kay, they've just finished assigning squads, and I suppose some of the teams have already met their leaders. You better get going"  
The Hokage grinned widely. "I know three certain genin that are expecting you..."

End Chapter One! Who is the one called Kay? Why was Kieto not in the academy? Who is the mysterious Dan Hyuuga? New answers and new questions in cHapter Two!


	3. Chapter 2: Teamates

Kieto couldn't say she was lonely. After all, she had waited all her life to meet her team; spending years and years in solitude was enough to make anyone crave a bit of attention. Nonetheless, her current teamates were fairly hard to get along with. 

First, there was Z. He was brash, loudmouthed, and reminded her of the braggers you always see in the movies who died horrible deaths. In the brief time that they met, he had already seemed to make enemies with the Hyuuga, and make himself look like a complete and utter doofus (trying to hop fence then falling over it with ripped pants qualified him in her mind as a grade'A' nincompoop)

She had hoped that there would be someone level headed to balance the idiocy of Z. Her hopes were not far off, but level headed was perhaps too strong a word. Dan was tall, dark, and completely stoic. The ideal talking buddy. One could speak to him for hours and he would never say a word. Kieto knew. She tried it.

At the moment, the three team members were sitting in a large grassy field, surrounded by large, protruding boulders. Kieto was seated in the middle of the two boys, her hands folded in her lap, and her eyes closed. Z was trying to balance a kunai on his nose. Dan was sprawled out on the ground, his hands in his pockets.

They had been this way for quite a while now. After the teams had been picked, the squad leaders arrived at the academy door to welcome their students. All but their's that is. When they had come to the door, there was only a note, so small, only Kieto noticed it. It read, "Team 9, do not bother catching up or socializing. When you receive this, go directly to the rock field behind the Section B housing unit. That is all."

So there they were. The sun was beginning to drop into a purple sky, and the twinkling of stars started to dab the horizon like dribbles of golden paint. Kieto had never seen such a wonderful sky. "It's beautiful isn't it?..." she murmured to herself.

"Hm?" Z questioned momentarily. Momentarily before losing his balance. The kunai slipped from his nose, and the sharp end stabbed in the foot. "Argh!"

Dan didn't say anything. His eyes were closed, so Kieto thought him to be asleep. She stared at the sky for another moment, before her face began to droop. Why did she get the loser team? A moron who hadn't stopped being an idiot since they arrived, and rock who hadn't said a word.

She sighed, and let out a breath as the air began to turn from warm to cool, then flipped a kunai into the air. Dan noticed first. His seemingly slumbering form leaped up from the ground, two shuriken in hand. He threw one quickly, the sharp "twang" of metal on metal reverberated throughout the plains. A shuriken and a kunai fell just inches away from Kieto's face.

Z raised his head. "What's going on?"

Suddenly, four more kunai exploded from the dense foliage of trees behind them. Kieto and Dan moved instantly, somersaulting away from the dedly projectiles, before relasing some of their own in the same direction. "Who's attacking?" she yelled.

Z screamed as a kunai landed at his feet. He leaped backwards (quite unecessarily) as two more landed in front of him. After he got his breath under control, a grin formed at his lips. "You missed!"

Kieto turned around to see what her idiot partner was doing, then her eyes widened. Z! Get down! That one has an exploding tag!" she shouted.

Z raised an eyebrow. "What?" BA-DOOM! An explosion ripped through the plains in a blast that sent Z flying into the air for a good three seconds, before landing face first on the moist ground. He was out.

"Z!" Kieto began to run towards her fallen comrade, but the sharp feel of steel was suddenly wrapped around her throat. A dark, sinister voice came from behind her. "Now don't think of going anywhere missy..." it said.

She rotated her eyes just enough to see Dan was in the same position. That same, cold voice, floated back into her ears. "You're dead"


	4. Chapter 3: Meet your new Sensei!

The feeling of power, the feeling of being completely in control of a situation always made his heart race. He was never anxious, or scared, or even perturbed. Whenever he was in battle, he would constantly fight for that feeling, that rush, until his body gave way, and he could fight no more. Unfortuneately, being on the receiving end of that feeling was not nearly as pleasent.

Dan Hyuuga was grimacing, the cold steel of a razor sharp kunai bared against his neck. A large body covered him, with a single muscular arm wrapped around his chest, completely holding him in place. Whoever this guy was, he was strong.

It hadn't been five minutes ago, when they were attacked. Out of nowhere, and without warning. Their attackers seemed to have no motive, and they were apparently prepared for a death match.

He was the first one to spot them, he owed that to his refined hearing. The suble crunch of brittle leaves and twigs from far away pounded in his ears like a bass drum from a few feet in front of him.

The whistling of kunai filled the air, and Dan acted (as he always did) without hesitation. He reflected the oncoming kunai with one of his own shuriken, and proceeded to launch a lightning fast counter attack.

As expected, his teamates couldn't keep up with his skill, but the girl was fairly impressive. She acted without any question to the situation. It was a good attribute, being able to respond like that.

It was his third partner however, that ruined them. His blasted unattentiveness to the world around him got them into this mess in the first place. If he had observed what he and the girl were doing, he may have been able to be of some use. Now, he was laying on the ground, face down, out cold. Great. "You..." Dan mumbled. "What do you want?"

The stinking, hot breath of his attacker slid through his ears like slime. "Did you know, hyugga..." it began "That we purposely made ourselves heard?"

Dan's eyes widened. What? Why would they do that. As if reading his mind, the captor responded. "We wanted to test you...test your ability to counter an opponent, even an unforseen one, and take action" it croaked.

A harsh snicker ran through his ears. "You are miserable opponents. Not only did you fail to hear us coming, your action was laughable!" he wheezed. Dan's eyes narrowed. "Seriously! A few kunai? What more did you do than stand around and get captured. What do you think the acedemy was for?"

There was a pause, and all Dan could hear was the creaking of the man's hoarse breath. After a few moments, a small smile came to his lips. "I think..." he mumbled. "That I found out all I needed to know!"

Suddenly, Dan's figure dissapeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving the startled ninja holding nothing but air. "Ghu? What?" he gasped.

A pericing voice echoed from the trees. "Peircing needles, Leaf Tornado!" As soon as the words were uttered, an enormous volley of needles shot from within the foliage, aimed directly at the stunned ninja.

A loud BOOM! filled the air, and a dust cloud billowed up from the former shinobi's position.

The attacker holding Kieto suddenly turned around, eyes wide. "What? What just happened?"

The solemn voice of Dan emitted from within the brush. "Your teamate has just been destroyed. If I were you I'd let the girl go, you've got a thousand needles trained on your head as we speak"

The larger ninja clenched his teeth, his free hand going to his belt. "Why you..." he mumbled.

All of a sudden, Kieto's small, yet strangely powerful voice reverberated across the open field. "There'll be no need fot that Dan..." she said calmly.

Within the trees, Dan Hyuuga's eyebrows raised. Who was she kidding? She was captured with a kunai to her neck. One wrong move, and that guy would slit her throat. He had created a shadow clone before they even arrived at the plain. He knew something was wrong, and the arrival of these crazy ninja assured it. He had been waiting for them the whole time. "Kieto, you're trapped, just let me handle this!" he shouted.

From below, a white toothed grin was easily visible on the young girl's face. "Please." she smirked. "Don't think you're the only capable ninja here...you big blowhard"

Dan grimaced. That idiot. She was going to get herself killed. How could she possibly...wait. "Why is...!" Dan did a double take. Laying on the ground, completely knocked out, was the attacking ninja, and Kieto was nowhere to be seen.

"Wha...what on earth?" he stammered. He had only blinked. Just a fraction of a second, and it looked like the large shinobi had been completely pulverized. Just what exactly had happened?

"See?...I told you so" an obstinate voice came from behind him. There, sitting on the same limb as he...was Kieto. She had made no sound, and he had felt no apparent raise in chakra. What could this girl do?

The last remaining ninja, squatting over by Z's unmoving body was sweating. Those other two kid's had done some crazy stuff...taken out their two strongest members. There's no way he could beat them both!He cast a nervous glance downward at Z. Was this kid just fooling too? Was it a clone? A replacment jutsu? He swallowed hard, his large adam's apple bobbing rapidly. Well he wasn't waiting around to find out! In a burst of smoke, he was gone.

After the last enemy had left, Dan and Kieto exchanged looks, nodded briefly, then hopped out of the tree, and over to Z. Dan shook his head. "What an idiot"

Kieto sighed, and put her hands behind her head. "So...you have any ideas who those guys were?" she yawned.

Dan pursed his lips. He decided to be a bit more cautious around this girl. She didn't know the full extent of her abilities yet...and it made him nervous. "Yeah...I know who they were"

Kieto raised her eyebrows. 'Really? Who?"

Dan sat on the ground and folded his legs, then pointed upwards. Kieto followed his gaze. Not twenty feet above them, effortlessly standing on the tip of a tall tree, was shadowy, red eyed man.

"Welcome Team 9. I am your new sensei. You've just passed your first test" 


End file.
